Honolulu

Last night’s “Lost” episode was Kate-centric, with its “flash-sideways” pegged to her run from the law (in L.A.) and from the temple people (on the island). But it was the travails of poor Sayid that really caught our attention and pushed the saga in an intriguing direction.

Having just been revived in the temple’s mysterious Jacuzzi, Sayid is tortured by Dogen, the grand poo-bah (Oh, karama is indeed a bitch). Dogen places some cartoonish electrode gizmo on Sayid’s head and thrusts a red-hot poker into his torso as Jack continues to stew outside. But eventually, Dogen explains to Jack that they’re not torturing Sayid, but testing him. (Maybe it’s just a 50,000-mile tune-up).

“We believe he has been claimed,” temple guy says. “A darkness is growing in him.”

And then, the final zinger … “It happened to your sister.” The comment is followed by a quick cut to a raggedy, wild-eyed Claire in the jungle, acting all Rousseau-like and shooting people. It is the first we’ve seen of Claire on the island for over a season.

Dogen’s line about being “claimed” suggests that Sayid’s body has been taken over by someone — or something — else (Jacob? The Man in Black?) and this sort of thing has been happening for ages. Claire seems to be possessd by something or someone and we know dead Locke has been taken over by the Man in Black/Smoke Monster (At least we think we know).

And now a few past incidents may be coming into a deeper focus. Apparently, the temple waters were used to save young Ben after Sayid shot him (Recall at the time, Richard warned the castaways that, while Ben’s life could be saved, he would never be the same).

When we last saw Michael Emerson’s Ben Linus on “Lost,” he was warning Jack that “every single living person on this island will be killed” if Jack called in that mysterious freighter. Jack blew him off, so now the boat is on its way and a rescue could be imminent. Or not.

Emerson took some time to chat about his enigmatic character and Season 3 of “Lost.” (This is an extended version of the interview in today’s Times, with, as they say, bonus material):

Q: What was your reaction to last season’s startling flash-forward?

A: Those pages in my script were blank, so I wasn’t aware of it until it aired. And I was confused like everyone else. It was like, “Whatâ€™s going on here? Whatâ€™s with that beard on Jack?” Then, when everything finally came together, it blew my mind. I just sat there thinking, this is a stroke of genius. What an inspired piece of writing. … When we were shooting the episode, you could see that Matthew (Fox) was really excited about something, but he couldnâ€™t talk about it. â€¦ Continue Reading →